New digital media and technologies are making it easier for people to form and expand their social networks. With today's ever-increasing connectedness and prevalence of mobile devices, people are actively making use of social networking services as a way to form and maintain relationships. A first generation of social networks, based on connecting with friends and acquaintances in a location-agnostic way, has gained almost ubiquitous popularity with solutions such as Facebook® and LinkedIn® leading the way. A second generation of networks, building on the premise of location based social discovery, has recently gained increasing popularity as GPS-enabled smartphones become more prevalent. However, while the first generation of social networks enabled consumers to connect with people they already know, and the second generation has made location-based social discovery possible, consumers still face difficulty in using these services to interact with and meet new people with similar interests and ways of life.
For example, Foursquare® provides a platform for social discovery based on a shared location and a profile filled into the service. Other similar location-based applications, utilizing real-time GPS data instead of “check-ins,” have also emerged enabling people to meet others nearby that share interests or ways of life (e.g., professional interests and affiliations, activities, social habits, preferences, etc.). A challenge with these services, however, is the reliance on self-reported preferences, habits, and characteristics. Because a person's perception and description of self can diverge considerably from actual habits and lifestyle, and often focuses mainly on aspirations, forming social ties via these services can be difficult.